The Game Changer

I totally missed this one and out of nowhere an action gem from China appeared, showcasing the best of what has come out of Asia so far this year. From the opening minutes the film delivers an incredible action inferno accompanied by impressive cinematography, stunning visuals, stylish slow motion, plenty of blood and spectacular shootouts and fights. After 40 minutes, the film stagnates a bit and takes a break from the action, i.e. focuses more on the story, which is also interesting since the film is set in an older era, one could say that it is a gangster movie which is unusually refreshing for the action genre. It's gritty, stylish, old-school and at times so nicely over the top that I was pleased. Decent stuff that is very uncompromising in terms of characters. The protagonist is a bad-ass bastard at the end. 80%. (25.04.2017)